Chapter 927: An Old Enemy

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

How many people still remembered what Twain said in the newspaper six years ago after the World Cup in South Africa?

While the major media outlets and famous names in the football world congratulated the Argentinians for winning the World Cup, Twain made a statement at odds with everyone else.

“I admit that Messi has won the Treble, but it is too premature to name him the ‘new king.’ Argentina is able to win the World Cup because they haven’t meet the England team. Barcelona is able to win the Champions League title because Nottingham Forest is not around…”

He questioned Messi’s status as the “new king” even though Maradona himself had given Messi the crown of the football king. In Twain’s view, the player who could be called the king of the football must have absolute dominance in his time. His brilliance would overshadow everyone else and become a benchmark of the times.

Messi had not reached that position as of yet.

Because there was still George Wood to be considered. Nottingham Forest, which owned George Wood, could end Barça’s dynasty early. With George Wood around, the England team could do the same.

It was just a pity that while Twain had proved his point at the football club level, the England national team never had a chance to play against the Argentina national team.

But not to worry, the opportunity had come now!

On April 4th, at Nottingham Forest’s Crimson Stadium, the England team would face Argentina, their opponent in the friendly match!

The English Football Association listened to Twain completely when it came to the UEFA European Championship Qualifying round. As a result, Twain drew the name of the Argentina national team.

Maybe someone else had already forgotten what he had previously said but he himself remembered it.

“I’m going to show them whether I’m talking big or not.”

The match attracted a lot of interest from the fans in both countries. It also attracted the attention of fans all over the world. Because their feud was known to the world.

Originally, the football worlds of English and Argentina each minded their own business and had nothing to do with each other. But at the 1986 World Cup, a man formed a decades-long feud between the two sides.

And this very same man was now Argentina’s manager, Diego Maradona.

As a result of the 1982 Falklands War, the two countries formed an enmity. The hot-blooded young men who played football were always patriotic, so they also wanted to prevail over their sworn enemy on the football field. The World Cup in Mexico gave both teams such a chance – in the quarterfinals, Argentina played against England.

It was a game that would forever go down in the history of the World Cup, giving birth to too many classic moments.

Argentina had scored their first goal. Maradona, a man who stood at 1.68-meter-tall, had actually succeeded in his fight for a header against the tall England national goalkeeper, Shilton to head the football in … Unfortunately, it was a handball. The referee did not see Maradona’s furtive action and declared the goal to be valid. Although the England team players argued to their best but to no avail. They had no choice but to accept the result.

Following which, Maradona scored the most exciting goal in World Cup history – he bypassed five players in a row. While the other fans relished and enjoyed the goal, the English people were outraged – they thought that without the previous handball, England’s players would not have been disturbed and naturally there would not have been a “bypassed five players in a row” after that.

Unfortunately, what-ifs never existed on the football field.

As the Falklands War intensified the rivalry between the two countries, Maradona did not admit to the handball. In the end, he was forced to simply say “that it was God’s punishment of the English people. A little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” His refusal to admit it made the English people very upset, and the two football teams became enemies in this way.

Although the Falklands War was long over, the feud on the football field was inherited and continued.

People liked to say, “football is a war during peacetime.” This saying was right. For the England and Argentina fans, it was a death match every time their teams met.

England and Argentina met again at the 1998 World Cup in France. Beckham’s red card, Simeone’s sly eyes and exaggerated performance, as well as Owen’s breakout performance and Argentina’s exquisite free kick play were the highlights.

At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, England and Argentina were placed in the group of death. As a result, Argentina, which had been seen as the favorite to win the title did not even advance past the group stage. Many people saw Batistuta’s tears on the live broadcast in front of the television screens as well as Beckham’s unbridled venting after he redeemed himself at the penalty shootout.

It was always explosive every time the England and Argentina teams met.

They were famous foes in the world of football.

When Twain was just an ordinary Chinese fan, he was interested in the games between these kinds of foes, such as between England and Argentina, England and Germany, Brazil and Argentina… not to mention the old enemies at the football club level. Just the examples alone could take one day and one night to list them.

He felt that what best embodied the nature of football was games with these kinds of intense confrontations and filled with countless stories. Therefore, when the English Football Association gave him a list of teams to select from, he did not even look at the other teams and just drew a tick on the Argentina team’s name.

The probability was not high for some teams which wanted to meet with them in the international competition arena. It was overly dependent on luck. Since it was a friendly match, he could pick his opponents at will. Twain naturally picked the team that could stimulate his interest.

※※※

Even though it was just a friendly match, the English and Argentinian media were closely watching the big game between the England and Argentina teams.

As the game drew closer, the English media brought out the “Hand of God” incident to rehash matter. The vehemence of it was far more powerful than ever before.

In the past, the Argentina manager was not Maradona and the past incident was nothing more than just teatime gossip. It was now a different story. The Argentina manager, who was leading the team and had landed on English soil, was Diego Maradona, the Argentine national hero, who had used the “Hand of God” and “bypassed five players in a row” to humiliate England thirty years ago.

An English reporter went to ask Diego. What did he have to say about the handball of that time after thirty years?

Maradona pretended to be surprised and said, “Has it already been thirty years? Ah, that is a beautiful memory that feels good even as I think of it now…”

“Don’t you feel guilty about scoring a goal in such a deceptive way?”

Maradona shook his head and said, “No. You and we are enemies on the football field. Defeating the enemy by any means to achieve victory is the ultimate goal. I still feel that I did the right thing at the time.”

The former king of football was already fifty-five years old. But his temper and character were still a headache.

“If my handball was seen by the referee and the goal was declared invalid, I wouldn’t have any objection. But he did not see it, so the goal was valid. It was as simple as that.” Maradona shrugged and spread his hands in front of a large number of English reporters.

An English reporter could not stand Maradona’s “shameless” attitude. He asked a pointed question, “Mr. Maradona, do you ever think that you have set a bad example for a lot of Argentine players? Consequently, we can often see the famous Argentine stars on the pitch use their hands instead of their feet and heads to help their team score goals. Like your son-in-law, Agüero, and your favorite Messi…”

Maradona was a little unhappy, but fortunately he did not have a shotgun at hand. His face became serious-looking as he said, “‘The Hand of God’ is common in South America. It’s not patented by Argentine players. And I don’t think it’s common for Argentine players to use handball…”

He refused to answer any other questions. He pushed the reporters aside and turned to enter the building. Then he used force to close the door hard.

※※※

Twain held a newspaper in hand. There was a reporter on the reporters “besieging” Maradona. The English reporters were delighted to describe him as a shameless scoundrel which would make all English people abhorred. For example, he refused to admit that he had scored at the time with his hands which was against the spirit of sportsmanship in the competition. He had also repeatedly declared that he would still choose to do it again.

Surely any Englishman would gnash his teeth when he read this?

However, Twain was laughing.

“I like him, ha!” Twain did not care what expression Shania had next to him. His remark sounded ambiguous.

“Then you can go and hug him to show your love in person.” Shania pouted.

“But I’m not going to be friends with him.” Twain shook his head and said, “Two unconventional and unyielding people get together, both sides suffer. I can only look at this kind of person from afar.” He looked at Shania next to him and asked, “You’re not jealous of a man, are you?”

“I’m even jealous of football. What more of a man?” Shania pouted.

Twain smiled and put her in his arms.

※※※

The English media even went to Argentina to ask Maradona what he thought of what happened thirty years ago, which made the Argentine media feel “it was persecution” and “preposterous.”

Therefore, they also “happily” recalled the despicable things Tony Twain once did. For example, how he messed up the City Ground stadium like it was a rotten vegetable patch in his attempt to sabotage their core player and newly crowned king of football, Messi and using vile means to eliminate Barcelona and treated the undeserved win like it was nothing.

He also declared that “he could make Messi be sent off the field with a broken leg in five minutes.” Of course, it was refined by the Argentine media. His original words were, “If I really wanted to deal with Messi with that kind of method, I can guarantee that he won’t be able to stay on the pitch for even five minutes.”

Look, even the Dutch could not stand it. Cruyff had once publicly criticized Twain’s action and words as killing football and the art of it. He also called on FIFA to take care to protect the declining number of football artists today. “Why are there fewer and fewer players who can bring us pleasure now? It obviously has to do with everyone copying Nottingham Forest…”

After the Champions League final, Twain publicly backed Pepe, who was sent off for frenziedly beating someone up. He declared, “If there was a reason to beat up someone, I don’t think it’s a problem to hit someone. If it were me, maybe I’ll do it too.”

The Argentine media relished Tony Twain’s “sullied bad record.” In fact, they usually did not pay any attention to Tony Twain. If it were not for this game, they would not care about what Twain had said or done.

Just as the Argentine media went on a rampage to smear Twain, a new advertising billboard appeared in the heart of Buenos Aires.

It was an advertisement for Ray-Ban Wayfarer. The man in the image was no stranger to the Argentines, because his photographs had been seen regularly in the street newspapers during this time – Tony Twain was dressed in black and holding a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer as he leaned against the iron bridge railing. His eyes gazed into the distance and he appeared very cool like a mafia godfather.

Next to him was advertising copy: Ray-Ban, the real man’s choice.

A few days later, in the same downtown center, not far from the advertising billboard, a new advertising poster was also put up. This time the brand that appeared on it was the Gillette razor. The spokesman was still Tony Twain. He held a Gillette razor, gleaming and brilliant and put it next to his lips, while he looked at the bustling crowds and traffic below the advertisement. The black-and-white poster had a “cool” factor to it.

The advertising copy was: “The best man can be.”

Then a third billboard was erected as well. This time, it was by Dr. Martens, a famous British shoe brand. Tony Twain was the spokesperson too. Wearing Dr. Martens’ specially designed distinctive shoes, Twain did not look like a football manager, but rather an adventure explorer. He was not wearing the black suit of the first two advertisements. His look was far from an underworld boss. With a casual jacket and jeans on, he looked perfect for Dr. Martens men’s shoes. The getup made him look much younger than his actual age, and Twain liked the youthful outfit he wore.

On the other hand, the advertising copy commensurate with Twain’s style of handling things as well as his individualistic temperament. No wonder Dr. Martens would sign up Twain for an endorsement:

Confidence. Tenacious. Never compromise.

The advertisers were not worried about Tony Twain’s bad reputation damaging both world renown brands. Because the main sales strategy of both brands was to highlight the distinctive personality in this mediocre society. A recent topic of interest in Argentina like Twain, was really a good spokesman there was. Just like the villains in the movies which tend to find favor with a lot of fans, Tony Twain must also be able to find his audience here.

In fact, Maradona’s character was also very much in line with the requirements, if his size and appearance were better …

The Argentine media must have been frustrated when they discovered the advertisements, because their efforts to hype the issue had brought more advertising revenue to Twain instead…

Even the English media had repeatedly published social news of the large-scale advertisements of Twain appearing in Buenos Aires as a counterattack.

This matter did make onlookers laugh, but not everyone thought the matter was funny.

※※※

In the past, when Twain was the football club’s manager, such a situation happened less. It only happened to the players who left Nottingham Forest for the other teams.

And that was: when Twain and the opposing team engaged in a war of words, the former Forest players found it hard to bear …

For example, before the game between the Forest team and Barcelona, Piqué was put in an awkward position when the two sides attacked each other.

And now, most Nottingham Forest players had the opportunity to “enjoy” such treatment.

As long as they were not the England national footballers, they would have the opportunity to play for their national teams against England. If Twain decided to act crazy again and provoked a war of words, then any player, who had once played on the same side as Twain, would feel awkward.

This time, it was the unlucky Gago’s turn.

There were very few Argentine players in Nottingham Forest. Gago was the only one. How could he have been forgotten as the only Argentine to have been taught by Twain during this media battle on both sides?

But fortunately, he did not have to suffer through the ordeal because he was not called up to the national team by Maradona. He did not have to play in this friendly match. Since he did not have to play, he did not have to take any questions that would make things difficult for him. He refused to comment on the game because he was not going to take part in the match.

Those headaches were left to his national teammates to face …

※※※

The Argentina team did not fly to England together as a team. Maradona would bring the players from Argentina’s domestic leagues and arrive in Nottingham. Then the national footballers, who played for various European leagues would fly to Nottingham to meet with the team after the European league tournaments ended.

As Argentine players who played alongside in Spain, Messi and Higuaín arrived in London with Agüero and were immediately surrounded by “enthusiastic” reporters.

“Messi! Messi! Can you answer a question?”

“What do you think of Tony Twain, Messi?”

“It is said that he once tried to break your leg during a game. Is there really such a thing?” These rumors were terrible…

“Messi, will you play in the game against England? Is it true that Barcelona only want you to play half a game?”

If people who did not know the inside story, they would think that those who surrounded Messi were crazy fans.

Messi did not want to answer such questions. He bowed his head and covered his face with his hands, as he squeezed out of the crowd quickly. The two teammates who arrived with him on the same flight were like his bodyguards, sandwiching him in the middle.

After much difficulty, they were able to get rid of those frantic reporters with the help of the airport security. Messi was a little shocked after.

“It’s just a friendly match. It’s not even a World Cup game. Why are those people…”

“Have you forgotten who our opponent is? England and Tony Twain.” Agüero complained beside him. Messi was so popular that he also suffered as a bystander. Initially he looked like a flashy celebrity but when he managed to squeeze out of the crowd, his sunglasses almost broke amid the squeezing. Now the sunglasses were a skewed no matter how he wore them. He looked slightly disheveled. After trying to adjust the sunglasses for a long while, he simply put the sunglasses into the backpack.

Higuaín also said next to him, “This game cannot be seen as a normal friendly match no matter what … it’s a home game in England, so we must be ready to be booed at for the entire game.”

They hurriedly got into the car sent by the Argentina team to pick them up before they could breathe a sigh of relief.

“Anyway, I’ll only play for half the game…” Messi did not care about the booing.

“Well, so those media rumors are true?” Higuaín was a little envious. For the manager to make such a request, it implied that he was extremely valued and the irreplaceable core of the team. He himself obviously did not belong to that category of player.

“Mr. Guardiola is afraid that I’ll get hurt.”

Agüero gave a laugh at the side and said, “Isn’t it better not to let you play for even a single minute? Have you forgotten which player your opponent has?”

A name popped up instantly in the minds of the other two men. His inert face also appeared along with the name and looked lifeless like it was carved out of wood, which one could not take lightly. There were a lot of people who fell at his feet. If he did not want to get hurt in such a friendly match, he had to be careful.

Messi became excited instead.

“George Wood!” He clenched his fists.

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